January 27, 2013
MarkBernstein.org
 

The Aviator

The Aviator
Gareth Renowden

(order)

(January 27, 2013)

Truffle farmer and magazine expert Gareth Renowden ventures into SF with this lively romp through a ruined earth in the wake of global warming. Global cataclysm doesn’t phase Lemmy, his intrepid Airshipman, nor his gallant, artificially intelligent airship, from making their corporate rounds. The opening has buckets of exposition — not unexpectedly, perhaps, given Renowden’s expertise in eco-journalism — but there’s plenty of fun.

The book is structured as a series of encounters with isolated pockets of survivors. This familiar approach can be compelling, but it helps to give the protagonist more narrative direction than laid back Lemmy can consistently muster. Still, this feels like early late-period Heinlein, and that’s not a bad thing.